Black and White Thinking

Korea is now a first world country; little difference from other countries enjoying material prosperity. A professor writing in the diocesan bulletin continues his discussion with obstacles to communication, and this time it is the black and white thinking: either-or fallacy-- all or nothing. With  material prosperity we seem to be  prone for this either-or outlook.

In society we have: the conservative progressive divide, right and left, the government in power and those wanting the power, the young and old, city and country, the polarization is becoming more serious. The country is divided into camps of black and white thinking.

Logic makes clear that  we are dealing with contradictory positions. There is no middle way. The black denies the white and the white the black. Right or wrong, good or bad they are against. Both positions are not able to exist together-- one has to  overcome the other.This kind of thinking does not allow for co-existence but confrontation and conflict.

In the past when the left confronted the right and the right the left, we talked about the center. Those in the center disliked both positions. Black and white thinkers  saw the center as opportunists without a position.They were not accepted by either group-- objects of scorn and ridicule. When two whales are fighting the squid in between gets squashed. While the fight continues both are hurt as is the society in which they live.

This black and white position does not allow for dialogue and prevents dialogue from happening. Each group is wedded to what they agree, and will not open the door to understanding something new. The idea that communication has to do with what is similar and what is different is a premise for communication which has little value to these two  antagonists, and the reason for using force and violence. This is the reason we have violence in the family, school, society, work place, in politics and religion.

A bird needs both the left and right wing to fly.  When one of the wings  is out of commission the bird can't fly. But even with the two wings the bird can't fly for it is the body that gives the wings the motor power necessary. The wings have to be attached to the body to fly; with two equal wings we have harmony and balance.The wings with harmony and balance are able to carry the bird to where it wants to go. A conflict between the wings brings disaster. 

What is necessary to overcome this black and white thinking is to allow this middle area to have some different in-put. When the black and white join together we have all kinds of different colors that enter into the mix, making for harmony and balance. We have communication and co-existence. We have a healthy society.

Pope's Homework for Korea

At the conclusion of Pope Francis' trip to Korea, the Korean Catholic Community has begun reflecting on his message. Editorials, articles in the Catholic press, lectures and sermons convey to us  areas for future effort and hope.The Peace Weekly editorial expresses well the divisions, conflicts, indifference, selfishness, compromises, and values that need to be replaced with justice, peace, and unity.

Pope Francis was the center for this hope in his visit to Korea. His actions were humble and friendly, absence of walls, but not frivolous. His words were both  soft and strong; they matched his actions. From the beginning to the end, he was a  pastor and  yet moved people without overt religion,

He came to Korea and the Church with a very clear message. In every one of the places he stopped: at the airport, the Blue House, with the Asian youth, the beatification ceremony, meeting the Asian Bishops, the Flower Village, the Mass of Reconciliation, with each encounter, there was a united message where the words matched the actions.

He came with a gift. We have a blueprint with which to work with in the future. The Church needs to understand  what to do, and work to realize and implement the pope's message. The Peace Weekly will work, it says in the editorial, to make the pope's message known to the readers in the years to come.

The editorial wants us to understand the message he  left us in his  five days in Korea. There was a unity in all that was done. From the time of his arrival to the time of departure, the message was the same. He met the families of those who died  in the Sewol tragedy. On the plane back to Rome he said we can't be neutral in the face of suffering. When we don't face truthfulness and authenticity and fail to  empathize, we refuse to see. Pope Francis listened to the hurts of those he met and was moved.

We need to learn from humility. Simplicity and  spirit of poverty are closely related to this humility. They have moved  us as a community of faith. In a word, we need to be Christians. The pope was welcomed by many not as a celebrity or a politician, and he did not behave as such. He was a sinner and a follower of Jesus. He did not talk about himself but about  Jesus. He has left Korea, but the message remains, the future work of the community.

Obstacles in communicating

One of the obstacles in communicating is authoritarianism. A professor of philosophy and ethics treats the subject in our diocesan bulletin. He admits that we have come a long way in our struggle to rid ourselves of the problem; however, we have the remnant still in politics, economics, family, education, in the workplace, and in religion.

He begins with the difference between authority and authoritarianism. An  example  is the relationship of a father to son. The role of the father and the role of a son are both understood. When the father is most  father-like, he is fulfilling the role of a father. When the son says the father is the best, he acknowledges the authority of the father. Acting like a father the authority of the father will be recognized by the son. When the father is not acting like a father and makes the son recognize his authority, we are dealing with authoritarianism.

A teacher who uses his authority well does not necessarily mean he would also be a good father. The  authority of each roll and capacity  in society has to be  seen separately. A good teacher does not necessarily mean a good father.

In our traditional society, the relationship, we have with others is vertical: superior and inferior, subordination easily gives  birth to authoritarianism. There is little concern for quality of behavior and roll, but rather with  power and position and almost unknowingly, force. Consequently, strength is exhibited, demand for respect,  saving face, ostentation, ceremonies,  bluff, embellishment and hypocrisy. Content is less important than to please the superior. The vertical structure of our society, the professor maintains, is the reason for many of our problems. Briefly, authoritarianism is when a person is naturally expected to do one thing and doesn't, still wanting to have his position respected. 

The stronger the authoritarianism  shown by the  superior the more those who are subordinates will be watching how the wind is blowing, be passive and negative. They   try to curry favor with their actions. In the family when the father is authoritarian the children find it difficult be independent; a  teacher with this attitude will have students without creativity, initiative and spontaneity. Authoritarianism   not only stop with the objects of the authority, but extends to   others. We have a lack of face to face   and the absence of communication. 

When authority is horizontal, we have communication. Being accepted, is less important than to  accept others, instead of reigning, concern for others, instead of arbitrary decisions, cooperation, instead of soliloquies, dialogue, more than external concerns internal matters become important we become more mature. When we have authority and not authoritarianism, we have in the family, society and the church people communicating with each other.

Fake Early Manuscripts about Korean Catholicism

Recently, some of the material that (John Baptist) Yi Byeok, one of the scholars who had a great deal to do with  the beginnings of Korean Catholicism, was judged  a fake. Yi Byeok was the one that convinced  (Peter) Yi Seung-hun to be baptized, Korea's  first Catholic.  He brought back books from China that were used to study Catholicism, and they began forming a community of believers.

A Protestant minister who was interested in  early  Christianity in Korea began collecting manuscripts from the these days.  One of writings was Seongkyo Yoji, (Essentials of the Holy Teachings) supposedly written by Yi Byeok. In an essay written by Fr. Youn in the Catholic Times, a priest who has studied the issue for three years, published a book giving reasons whey the manuscript was a fake. The minister donated his collection to a museum  and in 1967, the manuscript was discovered and many Catholic scholars, he says, without verification began using the material.

In the essay, he says  there never was any reference in the writings of the early Church that Yi Byeok ever wrote anything. In the manuscript, there are words that the early Christians did not use, but words that were in use by the Protestants years after the death of Yi Byeok. The book is filled with examples that the early Catholics would not have known from the reading of the books that they had received from China.

The priest mentions that Protestantism came to Korea a hundred years after the beginnings of Catholicism. Thirty years after the death of  Yi Byeok, Protestant Missioners in China were translating the Scriptures into Chinese and these words, that were unknown  to the Korean Catholics appeared in the manuscripts that were supposed to have been written by Yi Byeok.

These facts already were known by the  bishop's committee on beatification back in 2003. However, some had difficulty in accepting this news and even today we do have a few who have problems, however, the majority accepted the information by the priest.

Apparently, the minister who was gathering manuscripts back in  the  1930s  was paying good money for these writings so that they would not get in other people's hands, which  prompted others to see the possibility of making  easy money and began to make  copies of the history of the early church, supposedly written by martyrs. The essay mentions even today there are those that are trying to sell manuscripts from the early days and hopes that we don't continue to fall for these hoaxes.

Fr. Youn finishes the essay by telling those who want to study the matter in more detail, before concluding we are dealing with a fake, facts do  not change.  These people feel that  we are defaming the Church and Yi Byeok, and he finishes by saying what is not true has to to be proclaimed as not true.

Much to Learn on the Subway

On the opinion page of the Peace Weekly the columnist, a poet and college professor, tells us about his experience as a salary man for ten years before becoming a professor. He recalls the drudgery of taking the subway for seven and half years during rush hour. He was completely bushed; arriving home in the evening, he would have to rest.
 
During the summer months, this daily drudgery and pressure were all the more annoying. " I am getting off' one had to yell to get to the door. Getting off one train and getting on another that was even more crowded was the daily fare. His white shirt would be dripping with sweat;  the first thing he would do arriving at the office was to go to the lavatory to wash.  One day, a proposition became embedded in his head: a hundred years henceforth  none of those riding in the electric train would be with us, and decided to get rid of all his irritations. We are all going to die, why is he letting them be an obstacle to finding  peace? He was not going to be upset by his follow travelers.

For a few days, he was overcome with work and on his trip home, he had a nose bleed. Pushed and  being pushed his shirt became bloodied and also others unknowingly would have been splattered with the blood. There were those who that day seeing the blood on their clothes would have been completely perplexed.

Many are the times we cause harm to another unintentionally. We miss the opportunity to apologize, have regrets, and spend time reflecting on the way we are abused. Often we have been harassed and irritated, and fight back, a common occurrence on the electric train.Those riding with him are fellow countrymen, neighbors, the other. Persons I am related to in a small or big way numbers in the thousands.

Our Lord has told us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We can't live this in our daily lives. Those with whom I am relating will die before or after me, and I should open my heart to them. We know that this world's goods do not satisfy us; there are other more important realities.

When in the subway, we know that no matter how hard we try we will look at certain people with a scowl on our faces. He has difficulty with those who noisily chew gum; ride the subway with their mountain-climbing  gear and speak in loud voices; lovers who are caressing each other seeming to want others to see them; loudly expressing  their political views are those who in the family are authoritarian. He would like those who preach in the subway to refrain from using hell as the main topic. Unbelievers are not going out to a church who makes them fear God. 

When we care for others in our given space, and we are polite we see the other differently. The writer does not drive so he uses buses and subways daily and sees, hears and feels much. The Chinese character for person is written: . The columnist wants us to see this as two people leaning on each other.

'Social Emotional Learning'

A doctor writing in Bible & Life reflects on his  understanding  of empathy  growing up, and in his years as a child psychiatrist. His mother was a pharmacist, and would take care of his medical needs. He never considered  medicine as a career, and he ends up as a doctor. He saw this as a mystery. The troubles  he saw  growing up and the death of so many in the family, the pain of so many young people, gave him the  desire while in college to go on to be a child psychiatrist.

In one of the cities in Korea a few years ago there were two successive suicides of children jumping  off apartment buildings. Thinking of the classmates of these  children the doctor had to do something, he took members of the children's mental health center, and went to the school. He looked at the girl who sat in the seat behind the child who committed suicide; her head was down, completely dispirited.  He was sorry for those who had died but had more of a need to be with the  living. After the period of mourning he did make it clear to the students, it was alright to laugh.

The coal briquet suicide of a mother with a brain tumor, and her two daughters were found dead by a middle school teacher. The doctor mentions that the teacher after a shower and changing his clothes, the smell  of the  coal briquet remained with him while teaching, he couldn't hold back the tears. The doctor told the teacher, it was a good lesson for his students. And reminded him that  smell is  the most sensitive of our senses.

The doctor was five weeks at the school that lost so many students in the Sewol tragedy; they wondered if the school would ever open again, but the doctor had trust in the strength and resiliency of the students.

On one occasion helping to  heal persons who were sexually abused one of them: "Doctor have you ever been sexually abused?  If you have never been  abused  how can you understand me?" These words were like a chisel at the heart. He felt lonely and heartbroken; this feeling came back again when he was asked if he had ever lost, unexpectedly 250  younger classmates? 

 Empathy, he says,  has to have both the emotional and the cognitive  operating together. With trauma, the emotional faculty is so strong that it silences the thinking brain.The doctor believes more than learning the different formulas of mathematics and another English word; it is important to have social and emotional learning: skills to manage emotions, show sympathy for others,  and make responsible decisions. When our emotional faculty is in order the cognitive will naturally do what is necessary.

He finishes the article with sadness that this was not part of the training of those in the Sewol Ferry. If  the students had been exposed to 'social-emotional  learning' when the loud speakers told them to remain in their cabin, and they  realized this was a question about life and death, they would have acted differently, and the adults would not have put their safety first.

The  last words are not to criticize, he says,  we need to understand others. The Sewol tragedy is happening  around us continually.  We need to have   a love for others. He brings Cardinal Kim to our attention with his  kind smile. He misses the Cardinal. The Cardinal "wanted to give more people more happiness' and the doctor would like that energy, to enter our sterile society to give life.

Thanks be to God

A priest reflects on the passage in the second chapter of John's Gospel, the marriage feast at Cana, and shares with us the results. He begins with the shape of the church buildings he has seen over the years. He doesn't know why they build churches with high ceilings but his experience in saying Mass in buildings with low ceilings made him appreciate the high ceilings.

At times, he has said Mass in large churches with small clusters of Christians scatter throughout  the church. Not a very efficient use of space he  thought.  Seeing the Christians leaving the church he wondered, did the churches have to be that large.

The inside of the church with the floor, the walls and the ceiling can be seen as a large water jar. In the Gospel story, our Lord tells the servants to fill the jars with water, and this became the wine for the feast after the first batch was consumed. He wants us to see us  going into a church that is like an empty jar, we become the water that fills the church. During the Mass, we again experience the love that Christ has shown us and intoxicated with this love we become changed into the new wine of his love. With  this  love, every place we go, we bring his joy, gratitude and love  and fill all we meet with what we have received. We are called to go out to those whose life doesn't have the joy and fullness that Jesus wants us all to possess.The second example is from chapter 47 of Ezekiel. The water from the sanctuary of the temple flows out and nourishes all the land giving life to all that it comes in contact with. Are we not like this water coming out from our churches to give life to all that we meet.

There are many who do not have the time or do not   participate in the life of the community but they do attend Mass on Sundays. These Christians need to know why they attend Mass. They are renewed by the encounter with Jesus and his mystical body. They are filled with his life and spirit and sent out to others to share what they have received, and to help others to find joy and meaning in life.

As in Ezekiel we are the water that gives nourishment to all that it meets. He wants to believe those who are anxious to leave the Church quickly after communion on Sundays are those that want to begin sharing what they have received at the Mass.

At the end of each Mass the priest sends us forth. We are filled with gratitude. We want to carry what we have received to the whole world. After the  blessing, we are told to 'Go" and we answer with a loud: Thanks be to God.